


More Than Just A Crush

by zeeissorandom



Category: MindCrack RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-06-04 11:31:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6656161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeeissorandom/pseuds/zeeissorandom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Beef realizes that what he feels for his good friend Etho is more than just a crush, he realizes he must act on his feelings if he ever wants anything to happen. But how will acting on these feelings end up for Beef and Etho's friendship? Will Etho reciprocate the feelings, or will everything that they have be ruined for good?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Humble Beginnings

"Ahg." I sighed, my head in my arms as I sat on my bed in the hotel room. It was the last day of Minecon and I had invited my best friend, Pause, over to my hotel room to talk. Pause was sitting next to me, looking at me, confused. I looked away from him, and he couldn't see my face, which I was grateful for. Tears slowly streamed down my face and I sniffed. I felt Pause bring me into a hug and I smiled a little bit. "Pause... I have something to tell you..." I sighed and stared at the wall. He let go of me and nodded, urging me to continue. I took a deep breath and let it out.

"I-I... I'm gay." I whispered. I could feel him looking at me and he smiled. 

"Okay. Did you think I would have a problem with that?" He smiled at me. "You're still my best friend. No matter what." I smiled and nudged him jokingly. 

"Ease it with the sappiness." I laughed a bit. "And thank you... It's just that you're the only one I've ever told.."

"I'm honored." He smiled. "So... Do you like anyone?" He giggled, asking the question like a 12 year old girl. I laughed and looked away.

"Maybe." I responded, just like he asked it. We laughed and he looked at me.

"Seriously though, do you?" He asked, normal this time. I felt my face get red and I looked away. He grinned. "Awhhh! Beefy's got a crush!" Pause giggled. I shushed him and my face got redder, hoping nobody heard. 

"Okay... Well. Since you wanted to act like a 12 year old girl, you have to guess." I smirked and laughed. Pause rolled his eyes and smiled. "It's somebody you know." I smiled.

"Is it Milbee? Because Milbee is mine." He joked. I laughed and shook my head. He thought for a moment. "Kurt?" I shook my head again. "Well.. Its not Milbee and it's not Kurt..." He filtered through a few more names. "It can't be Guude or... Etho...?" He asked and looked at me. As soon as Pause said his name, I felt my face turn red. Pause gasped dramatically and smiled at me. "Is it Etho?" He grinned. I nodded and smiled.

"Yeah..." I blushed. But like he's not even into guys or anything and he wouldn't like me. He told me I was like his older brother yesterday." I sighed. Pause shrugged.

"Maybe he's into that." He laughed. I pushed him jokingly.

"Gross, dude!" I laughed.

"Comic relief." He said and laughed. "Have you liked him for long?" Pause asked me.

"Like uh... 2 or 3 years..." I said shyly. His eyes widened.

"Wow." He said. I nodded and sighed. 

"Yeah..." I drifted off, thinking about Etho, as per usual.


	2. The Skype Call

~few weeks after~

I couldn't help but feel excited as I typed the message out. 

"You sure you want to? You don't have to." I typed to Etho. He wanted to get into a video call. Up until now, nobody on the server, or the internet in general, has seen his face, but I was about to be the first.

"I'm sure, Beef. But are you sure you're ready to see all of this?" He messaged me, making me laugh. "You're adorable." I thought to myself.

"I think I might be." I messaged back and a few seconds after, I saw the notification pop up on my screen. Etho is Video Calling you, answer or decline. It read. I quickly clicked answer to be greeted with a black screen. 

"Hi!" I laughed, realizing he had his hand over his camera. "Wow, Etho, your hand is beautiful." I smiled and I heard his adorable laugh come from his end. 

"Are you ready?" Etho asked me. I smiled and nodded.

"Yes! I. Am. Ready." I laughed and slowly his hand moved from his camera to reveal his never-before-seen face. I stared at my screen. Wow. He had brown shaggy hair and bright green eyes. His face was round, but still chiseled. His smile was just... I didn't know how to react. He looked at me, confused and giggled a bit, his bright eyes, somehow becoming brighter as he laughed.

"Hello? Beef? Did the call drop or something?" He said, looking at the screen. I quickly shook my head and tried to conceal anything that my face may have been conveying.

"No, sorry, just got lost in thought, I guess." I smiled at him, feeling as happy as ever being able to see the man I was in love with smile back at me.

"Oh, okay." He giggled. "So... What's up?" He asked. And we talked. For hours and hours on end, about everything and nothing at the same time. It was about 4 a.m. and I saw Etho yawn, very adorably, may I add. 

"Are you tired? You can go to sleep, I don't mind." I told him. He shook his head and his eyes started to close a little. He yawned again. 

"I'm fine." He smiled sleepy at me. I nodded and took a sip of my coffee. I wanted to stay awake as long as he did, and I didn't want to be the one who hung up first. His eyes slowly drifted closed, but jutted open, to soon close again. I stared at him as he finally fell asleep, smiling softly. I sighed as I looked at him. He started snoring lightly and I giggled softly. I looked at him and shook my head, smiling.

"Goodnight, Etho." I said softly. "I love you..." I said quietly as I ended the call and fell asleep soon after.

~Etho's POV~

"I'm fine." I smiled at Beef. I saw him nod and take a sip of his drink, coffee, his favorite as I had learned tonight. We learned a lot about each other in this call today. I was happy I was finally comfortable enough to show my face to Beef. And I was happy I got to see him smile and laugh at my jokes. I felt myself slowly start to drift asleep. I tried my hardest to stay awake, but my eyes finally closed and I fell asleep dreaming about everything I had learned about Beef today. And the things I wished I had learned...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay guys, heres chapter two! i know this one is super short too, and im so sorry for that, but i think ill make the next few chapters a little longer than this one, but i've only written so much of this so far and i want to be able to update it semi-frequently. sorry for that :(
> 
> ~Bai!


	3. Wither Fighting and Some Secrets Too

~The next morning, still Etho's POV~

I woke up the next morning, my neck hurting because of the way I had fallen alseep. My computer was a black screen, having gone into sleep mode after me not using it all night. I yawned and streched out a little bit.

"Oh, god, my neck." I groaned, rubbing it to try and help the pain. I sighed and stood up, deciding I would make myself a cup of coffee to wake me up. I walked into my kitchen and my phone buzzed. I picked it up and saw a few notifications.

\- Record Mindcrack vid today  
\- New Skype Message from Beef: Goodmorning, sleepy.  
\- 1 Missed Skype Call: Pause

I smiled as I saw Beef's message and typed him back. "Sorry I drifted off last night. I had an amazing time talking to you though. :)" I wrote and sent it. I just hoped I didn't sound too needy or desprate as I sent it that I wanted to talk to him again. I made myself my coffee and sat at my desk, ready to record a new video for my channel. I opened up Fraps and opened Skype, messaging Beef and Pause in our group chat.

"Hey guys. Wanted to fight a wither for a new beacon at the PVP arena today. You wanna help?" I sent and opened my recording software and Minecraft as I waited for their responses.

~Beef's POV~

"I'm in :)" I typed back to Etho, happy I'll be able to talk to him again. I got a message from Pause in a private chat soon after.

"Gonna let you two talk alone for a while ;) just kidding, but I'm not dealing with the sexual tension between you two after your call last night. Have fun ;))" It read. I sighed and rolled my eyes, blushing. Typical Pause. I soon after got a message in the group chat.

"Sorry, can't today. Andrea and I are going out on a date. Sorry guys. You can still go though, I don't mind." Pause typed.

"Okay then. Just me and you, huh Beef?" Etho typed.

"The real Team Canada. Wanna get into a call?" I typed, laughing at my joke. The notification popped up on my screen. I answered it and I heard Etho's voice in my ear.

"Hello there." He giggled and I saw him sign into the Mindcrack server.

"Hi." I said. "How are you this fine morning?" I asked.

"Sore. I fell asleep the wrong way and my neck is killing me." He sighed.

"Awh, I'm sorry. I feel like its my fault for keeping you up." I said, feeling guilty.

"No, don't feel guilty. I had a lot of fun talking to you last night, Danny." He giggled. I had told him last night that I hated when people called me Danny, and I prefered Dan, but wow I loved the sound of the name rolling off his tongue. I blushed and I was glad it was a voice call.

"Haha, very funny." I couldn't call him a funny name back, as I had learned Etho was his real name. Very uncommon, and very cute. He giggled and I ran around in game until I found Etho at spawn, getting potions ready for the fight.

"Oh hi. Here, have these and this." He threw some potions at me. 

"Ready to go?" I asked. He nodded in game, making me giggle. We went on to fight the wither, then left the game together to get into a video call.

"Etho?" I asked, hoping I was ready to tell him this.

"Yes?" He said, looking up from his notepad. He was laying on his bed, his laptop to the side of him and a notepad in his hands. He looked adorable trying to concentrate on how to do whatever he was doing. I took a deep breath. "You okay?" He asked, setting the notepad down. I nodded and let the breath out.

"A-Am I your best friend?" I asked cautiously. He nodded and laughed.

"Of course you are." He smiled. I sighed and looked down.

"I need to tell you something..." I said. Etho nodded me on. "Okay, well uh..." I took a deep breath. "I'm gay." I said quickly and peered up at my monitor to see Etho sitting there.

"Oh, my god Beef, you almost made me cry, I thought you were dying or something!" He let out a breath and I noticed that his eyes were red.

"No, I'm sorry, I just didn't know how you were going to react." I said. He giggled a little bit and wiped his eyes.

"No worries. I love you all the same, Danny." He smiled at me. He called me by my real name. Also the nickname he had for me. I smiled and laughed a bit.

"Thanks." I giggled. Etho shrugged and let out a breath.

"Well, if you're coming out to me, I guess I'll come out to you too." He smiled. "I'm bi." He said and my heart beat 60 beats a second. I HAVE A CHANCE! I smiled and nodded.

"Typical Etho, always gotta steal the spotlight!" I giggled. "Just kidding." I smiled at him. We talked for 4 more hours after that about random stuff again until we both fell asleep, me very glad Etho was in his bed this time so he wouldn't wake up sore the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyy guys! heres a longer chapter of this story, for once. sorry about the two short updates, i was just too eager to get this story out xD i hope you enjoyed it! many big things happened in this chapter :3 lil beefy's got a chance!! thanks for reading guys!
> 
> ~Bai!


	4. Etho's Proposition

~Etho's POV~

I woke up the next morning and the call was still going. Beef was sitting there at his desk, snoring softly. I smiled at him and thought about last night. We came out to each other. I have a chance. My heart started racing and I looked down slightly, blushing as I saw what the morning had caused. My blush deepened as I saw Beef start to move around, waking up.

"U-Um. I-I gotta go. I-I'll message you in a bit, bye!" I stuttered out quickly, hoping he didn't see anything and ran to the bathroom to take care of it.

~Beef's POV~

I woke up the next morning to see Etho sitting on his bed, awake, with...? I was about to laugh a bit before I heard him stutter out that he would talk to me later. I blushed, giggling a little as the call ended and I realized I had the same problem. I took care of it quickly and washed my hands before I made myself a cup of coffee. My phone buzzed on the counter and I looked at it. 2 new notifications.

\- New Skype Message from Etho: sorry i had to go so fast, small emergency, but everything is fine now :)

What a lie, I laughed at the message.

\- New Skype Message from Pause: How did it go last night? I saw the call went on until like a half an hour ago. You guys fall asleep together?

I messaged Pause back.

"Yeah, we fell asleep talking." I typed. "Call in 20?" I sent.

"Yeah, sure." He sent back.

I quickly called Etho on Skype and he sat smiling at me.

"Did you get my message earlier? Just want to make sure you didn't think I was being rude or anything." He smiled innocently. I giggled and rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, an-" I did air quotes. "emergency." He blushed dark red and I laughed. He looked adorable.

"Shut up! It happens to all of us." He said, blushing harder and harder.

"Ahh, I'm just messing with you." I smiled, blushing at the thought of him again.

"Anyways," Etho said, changing the topic. "I have a proposition for you." He told me.

"Proposition, you say?" I said in a funny voice, making us both laugh.

"Yes." He confirmed and I nodded him on. "How would you like to come over next weekend?" He asked me.

"L-Like... In person?" I asked, my heart racing.

"Yeah, why not, right? We can hang out and you can stay over at my place. I have a guest bedroom in my apartment that you can stay in." He grinned. "I'd rather sleep in your bed with you.." I thought to myself.

"Y-Yeah! I would love to!" I smiled.

"Great!" He smiled adorably. I smiled at him, wishing I could kiss him..

"Okay, well I promised Pause I would get in a call with him in like 10 minutes. So I will most likely get in a call with you after that and get details sorted out." I smiled and he nodded.

"Okay, talk to you later." He grinned.

~Etho's POV~

I went to end the call but before I did, I saw Beef grin widely and pump his fist into the air. I blushed deep red and ended the call. I was so happy. I was finally meeting him in real life. And he was staying at my house for a whole weekend! I grinned and looked down at the notebook I always carry with me and sketched a bit more to what I was drawing the other day. It was a portrait of Beef. Little did many people know, but I love to draw, and I guess you could say I'm okay at it, but not really. But I loved this picture of Beef. I had been drawing it last night when we were in the call together. I smiled at it and imagined what it would be like to hug him. I wondered if it would be weird if I hugged him when he arrived... Thoughts swarmed my head for a while until I just decided to take a nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! another short chapter, but a lot happened this time. real life meeting??? whaaaaatttt? xD im going to release everything that i have done very quickly in this time period, because im in class and its almost over, so i gotta get a move on! thanks for reading guys, thanks!
> 
> ~Bai!


	5. Old Man Beef and Important News

~Beef's POV~

I pumped my fists into the air in joy and yelled. "YES!" I shouted and heard some guy upstairs tell me to shut up. I blushed and didn't respond. I giggled and smiled. I finally get to meet Etho in real life. I was so excited. I quickly video called Pause and I grinned. He went to say hi, but I cut him off in excitement.

"Pause, buddy, you're not going to believe this." I said giddily.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I'm going to go meet Etho next weekend. Like in real life!" I shouted.

"Really? Good for you, dude!" Pause said, smiling. "You gonna make your move?" He winked. I blushed and shrugged.

"I don't know... If he makes any signs of flirting or anything I might." I said. "I came out to him, though." I admitted. Pause smiled.

"That's awesome! Maybe now that he knows, he thinks he has a chance and you guys will run off, happily ever after! Dibs on officiating your wedding!" He laughed and I blushed.

"Shut up." I giggled and blushed. "Etho's wearing the dress though." I laughed and so did Pause.

"Yeah, okay." He said sarcastically.

"Hey! Neither of us really fall into any steriotypes though, I guess. But I have the beard. Gay guys with beards always wear the suits." I laughed. Pause rolled his eyes and we talked for a little while before he let me to to talk to Etho again, which I was very happy for. Not that I didn't like talking to Pause, because I did, but I will admit I wanted to talk to Etho more. I called him on skype and he answered from his phone camera instead of his desk. He yawned as he said hello.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" I asked. He shrugged and yawned again. God, was he cute. I smiled at him. "You can go back to sleep if you want." I told him. He shook his head.

"I'd rather talk to you." Etho smiled sleepily. He streched out and smiled at me. "So, next weekend." He started. I nodded and he continued. "You can come over like Friday night or something, Toronto is only about 3 hours from here. Then we can go to sleep or hang out for a while, then the next morning-" He talked about his favorite breakfast place to go to. I smiled at him lovingly as he talked on and I zoned out a bit. "Beef? You there?" He asked and I snapped out of it, nodding.

"Sorry, I got lost in thought." I smiled.

"Oh okay. How does that sound though?" He asked. I nodded and smiled.

"It sounds great. I can't wait." I grinned. He blushed a bit and I smiled a bit.

"I'm sorry if it does get a bit cold here though, the heating dosen't work sometimes and we are in Canada." He giggled. "I could hold you and keep you warm.." I thought to myself.

"No worries. I'm sure I'll be fine." I smiled. He nodded and laughed a bit.

"In fact-" He started and grabbed at something out of frame. "It's pretty cold in here right now." Etho stated, wrapping a fuzzy blue blanket around him. I blushed and smiled as I remember him telling me it was his favorite blanket because his grandma had knitted it for him when he was little and he's had it ever since. He looked so innocent, with the blanket wrapped around him. I decided to take a slight risk and say something I normally wouldn't.

"You look like a cute little baby!" I laughed and he giggled.

"Look like one? I am one! That's why I force other people to make my food for me. Mcdonald's is great." He said, making us both laugh. That went well. Let's try for flirty comment, round two.

"You know, speaking of people making your food for you, I can cook a mean spaghetti dinner." I laughed a bit. "I should make it for you while I'm visiting." I suggested and Etho's eyes widened and he smiled.

"I love spaghetti! That would be great." He grinned and I smiled a bit. "So how do you feel about crepes?" He asked me.

"Love them. Any reason why you're asking?" I giggled.

"Well if you're making me dinner, I can make you breakfast, because I make amazing crepes." He smiled. Round three is a go.

"Domestic." I said under my breath, wondering if he heard me or not.

"Domestic, indeed." He giggled, pulling the blanket over his head, peices of his brown hair sticking out at random angles. I blushed a bit and smiled. Never have I ever been more glad for my beard than when I was in Skype video calls with Etho. He smiled and I decided to shoot for round four.

"You have a really nice smile, you know?" I told him and he blushed.

"I honestly really hate my smile sometimes... people used to make fun of me for the way I laughed and stuff when I was younger so I guess I've always been self concious of my smile.." He said sadly. Round five.

"Well, they were idiots because I think your smile is pretty adorable." I said, and he blushed darker red, smiling.

"Thanks.." He said softly, looking at his hands, smiling to himself. Can I get a round six?

"So." I said. "Upon arrival to your humble abode, I will promptly request your permission to hug you, because I see it fit to hug everyone I meet when I see them in person for the first time." I giggled a bit and he smiled even wider.

"Your permission shall be granted." He laughed and smiled up at me, his green eyes seeming to sparkle. I swear sometimes I just get lost in those green eyes of his that I forget everything else thats happening.

"Good." I smiled. "I'm really excited to meet you, Etho, I really am." I admitted.

"I'm excited to meet you too." Etho responded. "You're bringing Bubba, right?" He asked dramaticly.

"If you want me to. I was just gonna leave him with my friend Sarah for the weekend, but if you want me to bring-"

"Yes, please." He cut me off, grinning. "I love dogs so much." Etho laughed.

"I'm sure Bubba will love you." I laughed.

"I hope." He said. "Dogs don't seem to ever like me as much as I like them. Same with people." Etho giggled and looked down a bit sadly.

"Well, you'll be happy to know that I like you and Bubba probably will too. Bubba! Come here, boy!" I said and my dog came padding his way over to my chair. I picked him up and Etho awhhed in an adorable way, asking different questions about him. We talked for a few more hours until I had to go make myself dinner and gossip to Pause, but I wasn't going to tell Etho that part. I called Pause after I ate a sandwich and smiled at him.

"Hey boy!" Pause smiled at me.

"Hey." I giggled, taking a drink of my coffee.

"How did it go?" He asked me.

"Well." I set my drink down. "I did some hardcore flirting." I laughed a bit. "And we're gonna cook for each other while I'm there and go out to eat together." I smiled and Pause looked excited for me.

"That's awesome dude!" He exclaimed. "I'm so proud of you. But when you get back, you better tell me everything. Wait, I'm kidding. If anything happens, spare me those details." He laughed a bit and I blushed.

"I'm sure nothing like that will happen." I said and Pause shrugged.

"Never know." He smiled at me. "Are you excited?" Pause asked and I nodded.

"Very." He smiled. "I'm just afraid he'll be taller than me or something stupid like that." I giggled a bit. "Like I don't want him to seem like a giant compared to me or something. Aren't we both like the same height though?" I asked, and Pause thought for a second and then nodded.

"I think you are. But don't worry, I'm sure you both are going to be fine, and you're going to hit it off right away and before you know it you'll be saying I do." Pause laughed a bit and I blushed.

"Shutty." I muttered, looking away. "I just hope I don't get too awkward too, remember how awkward I was at Minecon? What if I'm like that around Etho too and he thinks it's because of him?" I worried out loud. Pause rolled his eyes.

"Dude, you're going to be fine, I promise." He said. "Don't worry about it. Just take the punches as they come, you know? It's a wonder I ended up with someone like Andrea, and maybe Etho is your Andrea. You just never know. Don't sweat it though, it'll all be fine." Pause reassured me, and I nodded.

"Maybe you're right. I just gotta take the punches as they come. Well you want to all three get into a call and film some Terra Restore?" I asked, wanting to talk to Etho again badly. 

"Yeah sure, we're almost done with the map anyways, maybe we can finish it tonight." Pause said and seconds after there was a message in the group chat from Pause.

"Hey, Etho, want to film some Terra Restore 2? me and beef are in if you want to." It read and he responded a few minutes later.

"Sure, but let me have some coffee first, as I just woke up from a nap." He said and I smiled a bit, but also feeling sad because I won't be able to hear his raspy (and very hot) morning voice. About 10 minutes later, Pause and I got a notification, a call from Etho. We both answered.

"Hello there, fellow Canadian." Pause said, laughing a bit.

"Ello." Etho said, clearing his throat of morning voice completely.

"Hello." I said, opening up Minecraft and getting on the server that Pause had set up for us to play the map on. I waited for the other guys to log on and Pause counted down the recording.

"3, 2, 1.." He said, and I jumped in with the intro.

"Hello everybody and welcome to-" I was cut off by Etho punching me into a pool of water and yelling "Labyrinth of puzzles!" Which made me giggle and punch him back.

"You always have to steal the spotlight, huh Etho?" I asked and laughed. 

"Always." He confirmed, before Pause crouched in front of us and hit us both with his sword, making us all laugh. We filmed the rest of the map with no interesting events happening and we all stayed after to talk for a while after wards.

"That last area was so hard!" Pause exclaimed, making me laugh.

"And we have to film another long one tomorrow too. UHC tomorrow guys, and team Canada is the team that will win!" Etho said excitedly.

"Oh, god. I don't know if I can do 2 to 3 hours sitting in this chair again. I have to get another one very soon. This one is so old." I sighed and Etho saw his opportunity.

"Just like you." He giggled a bit and I could sense him smiling on the other end, suddenly we heard a phone go off in the background, but we decided to ignore it.

"Etho. You are like 5 years younger than me!" I yelled, laughing.

"Like I've said before, Beefers, 5 years is a long time. When you were 5, Etho was a newborn. You could have killed him." Pause giggled.

"Pause, when I was 5 you weren't even born yet, so shutty." I laughed. "Damn, young-ins." I muttered, hearing Skype go off. I looked at the message and smiled.

"Want to tell Pause we both have to go and get into a private call? not that I don't want to talk to pause, but i really just want to talk to you right now.." The message read. It was from Etho and I felt my face blushing bright red. 

"Hey, Pause?" I asked. "I gotta go man, it's like 12 here and I need my rest for UHC tomorrow. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Ehh, okay, old man." He laughed. "Wanna still stay and talk, Etho?" Pause asked.

"Um, I-I think I'm going to go to sleep too. Long day tomorrow, you know?" Etho said, trying not to sound suspisious. 

"Awhh, really?" Pause laughed. "Old men. Okay, well I'll talk to you guys tomorrow." And we all exchanged goodbyes before ending the call, getting a call from Etho after a few minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh noes. something is about to happen. good luck reading this xD i know this ended abruptly but the next chapter is already out soooo
> 
> ~Bai!


	6. The Meeting

"Hello." I smiled at him and his eyes were red and puffy. "Hey, oh my god, are you okay?" I asked, concerned. Etho sniffled and looked down, tears running down his face. "Etho, oh god, what happened?" I asked, scared. He smiled sadly and looked up, his eyes red, with tears down his face. He shook his head softly and looked back down, more tears streaming quietly.

"M-My..." He started, but couldn't get through the sentence without letting out a choking sob and rubbed his eyes on his sleeve. "My mom got into a car accident." He whispered, almost inaudible. I gasped a little and felt pain for him. "I just got a text from my dad. She's in critical condition and might not make it..." He said, trying to be quiet with his sobs. "Can I ask a big favor of you?" He asked and I nodded quickly.

"Anything." I responded, quickly. 

"D-Do you think you can come out to my house today? I-It's okay if you can't but-" I cut him off. 

"Of course. I'll start packing as soon as I can." I said. He nodded and wiped more tears away.

"Thank you.. I'm sorry I just.. yeah.." He said quietly. I nodded in understanding.

"I guess I'll see you in a few hours then." I smiled and he managed a semi-smile, and he nodded. 

"Bye, Beef." Etho smiled.

"Bye, Etho. See you soon." I said back, waiting for him to end the call and I quickly grabbed my suitcase out of my closet and shoved stuff into it. Clothes, toiletries, a few ball hats. I wore them everywhere, but don't ask me why because I don't really know why. I finished packing and messaged my friend Sarah who was supposed to be watching Bubba and vaguely explained that I would be leaving early and taking Bubba with me. I packed some of Bubba's toys and some dog food to last him the drive. I assumed that I would be able to go to a store near Etho and get some dog food for him there. I got everything into my car and got Bubba in with a bit of trouble, but it was about 12:30 when I left. I stopped at a gas station and filled up my tank, also grabbing a coffee to keep me awake. It took about four hours before I got to Etho's apartment complex, parking where he messaged me to. I took a deep breath and clicked the buzzer with his last name on it. A few seconds after, it made a noise which I assumes meant the door was opened. I led Bubba in and held my suitcase in my hand. I saw Etho and saw his red face down the hall. I smiled and ran up to him, dropping my suitcase, knowing Bubba would trot after me. I hugged him tightly and he hugged back. God, there wasn't a better feeling in the whole world then holding him in my arms. He was thin, but not too thin, just the right weight to hold comfortably. I hoped he didn't feel weird wrapping his arms around my bigger frame, but if he did, he didn't show it. I heard his coked sobs into my shirt and held him closer.

"T-Thank you so much for coming.." Etho whispered into my shoulder. I nodded and let go of him.

"It's my pleasure. Anything you need, I'm here, okay?" I told him and he nodded, staring at me. I smiled, wanting to kiss him so badly.

"I-I just can't believe everything that's happened tonight, you know?" He said softly, tearing up. He wiped them away and forced a smile that I saw right through, but decided not to make him share more than he was comfortable with. "Let's get you inside." He said and gasped exictedly when he saw Bubba. "Bubba!" Etho said, as Bubba licked his face happily. I giggled and saw them. "My two favorite boys." I thought to myself happily. He stood up and walked me into his apartment. It was nice, with a picture of him when he was little with a little puppy on the wall and a recently taken family portrait with his mom and dad next to it. 

"Sorry it's a little messy." He said, looking around, embarrassed. I shook my head.

"You should see mine." I giggled, making him smile. God, his smile was so much more cute and adorable in real life.

"I'll show you where you can come put your stuff." He said, walking down a wide hallway down with four breakoffs. One into a bathroom, another into a storage room, one into what I assumed was Etho's room, and one into the guest bedroom. I followed him into the guest bedroom, setting my suitcase down next to the bed. Bubba slowly followed us into the room, sitting down next to the suitcase onto a pillow I had brought for him.

"I'm really sorry if he wakes you up. He snores a lot." I giggled a bit.

"No worries, I'm quite a heavy sleeper, so I'm sorry if you have a hard time waking me up tomor-" He cut himself off. "The UHC." Etho groaned. 

"I'm sure Guude and them will understand." I told him.

"But what excuse are you going to make up? Are we going to tell all of them that you're here?" Etho asked me and I sighed a bit and nodded.

"I'll just say I'm not feeling up to it?" I suggested and Etho shook his head.

"We were just talking to Pause a few hours ago, he would know something was up. Did you tell him you were coming?" He asked me and I blushed a bit.

"Yeah, but I didn't tell him that I came early. I just told him I was leaving on Friday night like I was supposed to." I admitted and Etho shrugged, yawning a little bit, looking very damn adorable, might I add.

"I'm sure we can come up with something by tomorrow morning." He shrugged and I nodded. I sat down on the bed and smiled.

"Wow, this is really comfy!" I giggled and he smiled at me. 

"Yeah, I just got a new bedding set for that bed the other day." He remarked, sitting next to me on the bed. Even though he was thinner than me, it wasn't a huge difference between the two of us. He seemed to even out throughout his body. I looked over and smiled at him softly while he looked at Bubba. God, he was perfect... I looked away before he could catch me staring and he looked at me.

"Come here." He told me in his quiet voice, still seeming quiet despite him being right next to me. He stood up and I followed him down a bit down the corridor and he walked into his room. I walked along with him, confused as to what we were doing, but followed him anyways. He walked and crouched down by a dresser as I took a quick look around. Very Etho. A few band posters scattered around, his favorite blue wool blanket sitting on a pile on his floor by where he was looking for something in a drawer. He finally pulled out a 2 small bracelets that were hidden around some other things that seemed important to Etho. He stood up and gently kicked the drawer shut.

"Okay, so you have to promise you won't laugh at me, okay?" Etho asked me and I nodded. "I-I was walking in the mall the other day, and I saw these and I thought of you." He blushed and handed one to me. It was a bracelet with a thick black cord and attached to it was a small metal plate that read "Partners in crime". I smiled as I looked up to see Etho blushing and smiling at me. "S-Sorry if it's really cheesy and stuff I just saw them and-" I cut him off.

"No, don't worry, I love it.." I said, sliding it onto my wrist, Etho doing the same. "It's adorable." I giggled and looked up at him to see him smile at me too. I mentally sighed. I wanted to kiss him so badly. So badly. But I knew I couldn't so I tried to push the thoughts out of my head.

"Are you hungry at all?" Etho asked me. I shrugged. 

"Not particularly." I smiled and Etho smiled. 

"Don't lie. You just took a 4 hour drive out to see me at 4 in the morning. Let me feed you." Etho giggled softly and I laughed. "Also, go to the bathroom, I can tell that you have to go." He said, smiling smugly.

"How did you...?" I asked, confused. How did he know?

"You just took a four hour drive without stopping! I'm not stupid. Now go and meet me in the kitchen, okay?" Etho giggled and I nodded, walking towards the bathroom. I washed my hands after I was done and walked out towards the kitchen to see Etho turned around, his arms bracing himself on the counter. I walked up to him and tried to catch his eyes. His eyes were red and he was crying again. He realized I was there and quickly wiped his tears and pulled a fake smile.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there." He said, smiling a smile that I saw right through.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked softly, resting my hand on his arm. He looked at the ground and let his head fall a bit. 

"I-I'm fine. I'll be fine." He said and I dropped it as to not make him share things he didn't want to share.

"Okay.. But I'm here, okay? That's why I'm literally here." I giggled. "To be here for you." I finished and I smiled. He slowly leaned in for a hug and I finished the way wrapping my arms around him, and him doing the same as we stood in Etho's kitchen at 5 in the morning, him in my arms, and me in his. 

"I'm really not all that hungry." I told him. "And you need some sleep, there's bags under your eyes. You should get to bed." Etho sighed a bit and looked up at me, me being about an inch taller than him.

"But I want to stay up and talk to you." He said sleepily. I assumed he didn't really know what he was saying. 

"Let's get you to bed." I giggled and walked him down the hall as he cuddled into my arm softly. I blushed and smiled a bit, but knew it didn't mean anything. I lay him down in his bed and covered him up with his blue blanket, hoping he would apreciate that I chose that one. I giggled a bit as he nuzzled into his pillow sleepily.

"Gnnight, Beef." He said quietly.

"Goodnight, Etho." I smiled at him.

"Love you." He said into his pillow and I blushed dark red.

"Love you, too." I whispered back, closing his door a bit before I walked into the bedroom that was mine and lay down on the bed, thinking about everything that had happened today. I was at Etho's house. Like actually there. And he told me he loved me. He was probably just sleepy, I thought to myself. I sighed to myself as I slowly fell asleep, dreaming about Etho and every perfect thing about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahg!!!! cute feels towards the end there. a TON happened this chapter, and it was semi long, which im glad i got the chance to do for once in this whole fic xD theres probably going to be about two more chapters that are gonna come out today, and then updates may be like weekly or every two weeks maybeeee. idk guys. im sorry xD btw i'm in english right now, so writing is a good thing... right? maybe not writing gay fanfic... but its writing? XD whatever xD
> 
> ~Bai!


	7. Breakfast and Cindy

I woke up the next morning around 9 a.m and I heard Etho's soft snores through the walls. Bubba had just woken up too, apparently and was trying to tell me he needed to go out. I threw on new clothes and quickly took him out for him to do his thing and brought him back in as quietly as possible. I sat down on my bed and checked my phone, having a bunch of new messages.

"Dude where are you? We want to start!" It read from Pause. "And do you know where Etho is?" It also read. Several other messages from other people read something along those lines.

I messaged everyone in the huge Skype group.

"Sorry guys, neither me or Etho can make it today. We'll explain later. It's important things." I wrote, sending the message and sighing a bit. How were we going to explain this? I decided to wait for Etho to get up before I did anything else and about 10 minutes later I heard the door across the hall slowly squeak open and heard the bathroom door close. I waited a few minutes for him to finish and heard a soft knock on my door.

"Ello." I smiled at him as it swung open the door a bit.

"Hey." Etho smiled back at me. "Have you been up for long?" He asked, and I looked at the clock, shrugging a bit. 

"Only about an hour or two." I responded, watching Bubba play with one of his toys. Etho giggled at the dog and looked back up at me.

"You're hungry." He noted to himself, and I smiled at him.

"You and your mind reading." I giggled, smiling at him.

"Want to go out for breakfast or stay here?" Etho asked me.

"I don't care, whatever you want to do." I told him, smiling a bit.

"To the diner, it is, because I'm very lazy." He laughed and I chuckled at him. "Give me like 5 minutes, I gotta get ready." He told me as he shut the door and I nodded, waiting for him as I got my shoes on. A few minutes later, Etho came out of his bedroom in a VintageBeef t-shirt and jeans. I giggled as I saw it.

"You like?" Etho laughed, and I nodded, laughing too.

"Very cute." I noted and I saw him blush a bit.

"You ready to go?" He asked, pretending his face wasn't bright red.

"Yeah, you want me to drive?" I asked him, and he shrugged. 

"I always walk there. It's just down the street." He told me and I nodded.

"Sounds good." I said as we headed out the door, side by side, leaving Bubba in the room that I stayed in with the door closed and locked. We walked out the main door together, walking side by side down the sidewalk. I looked over at our hands, which were right beside each other. I took a small breath and looked up at his eyes, which were locked on his hand next to mine, smiling softly. I looked at the top of his brown shaggy hair and felt a strong urge to intertwine our fingers together. I looked at his beautiful smile and felt the urge to kiss him. I sighed a bit as I looked down at our hands, softly bumping together as we walked. My heart ached to touch him, to hold him, to just.. I knew I loved him. But that was the moment that I knew I was in love with him, as we walked side by side on a street I'd never known, realizing that I was in love with this man. I slowly moved my hand towards his and held his hand gently, as he looked back up at me, surprised. I smiled at him and he blushed dark red, holding my hand a bit tighter. This was perfect. We both looked down at our hands, intertwined, seeming to be made for each other. As cheesy as it sounded, his hand fit in mine perfectly, and vise versa. I was in love with Etho.

"We're almost there, I promise." Etho giggled softly, looking up and me and I nodded.

"It's fine. It's peaceful here. Much less chaotic than living in Toronto." I noted and Etho shrugged.

"I've lived here all my life, never moved from this town." He told me, looking around him. "Hey, can you do something really important for me?" Etho asked me, looking at me. I nodded and gave him a questioning look, urging him to go on. "Do you think you can maybe come with me to the hospitol later..?" He asked, and I was suprised. 

"Of course." I told him, and he let out a small breath and smiled.

"Thank you. I just don't know who all is going to be there and if I have you there with me, my family might not try and talk to me." He said, sighing softly.

"I get it." I smiled at him. "I'm here for you." And he looked up, realizing we were almost at the diner.

"George's." Etho said smiling. "I know the owners, family friends of ours." He told me as we walked up the steps.

"I love that small town feeling where everyone knows each other." I smiled as we walked inside. It was a small place, but it felt home-y with small tabled everywhere and a small cash register station at the front with a lady who was a few inches shorter than me stood. She looked up when she heard the bell ring that sat on the inside of the door. A huge smile fell across her face and she walked over to us, hugging Etho tightly.

"Long time, no see, huh, Etho?" She said, grinning at him as he hugged her back.

"It has been a little while." Etho smiled and looked over at me. "Oh, this is my friend, Dan." He introduced me to the girl. "Dan, this is Cindy. We grew up together around here." Etho informed me and I nodded, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you." I told her and she nodded at me.

"You too." She said, studying my face. I felt a little bit awkward as she stared at me, but accepted it anyways. She shrugged a bit and smiled.

"Can we get a seat in the back?" Etho asked Cindy and she looked at him accusingly, making him avoid eye contact with her. I was confused, but I kept it to myself. 

"Sure." She said. "Your usual?" She asked him and he nodded. "And what would you like?" She asked me. I panicked. Despite my career, talking was not one of my strong spots.

"Um, I-I'll just have what he's having." I told her, scared she would thing I was weird. She nodded and went off to what I assumed was the kitchen. She came back out seconds later with forks and knives and walked towards the table we would be sitting at. I sat down across from Etho at the small table and smiled at him. He looked at his hand and then looked back at me. 

"Are you okay?" I asked him softly. He took a deep breath and let it out. He shrugged.

"I guess.. I'm a lot better now that you're here.." Etho said quietly. I smiled giddily and looked at him.

"I'm glad. But I don't see why me being here makes you feel better, but I'm glad it does." I laughed a bit and he looked at me.

"Because you're my best friend and you're amazing and I..." He trailed off slightly. "I-I.. I really appreciate you being here for me." Etho finished. I blushed a bit and smiled at the table.

"Thanks.." I said, looking up at him as he put his hands up on the table.

"Danny?" Etho said, using his new nickname for me. 

"Yeah?" I asked.

"D-Do you think that we can maybe, uh.." He started. "C-Can we hold hands again?" Etho stuttered out nervously, his face turning red. I smiled at him and nodded, taking his hand in mine softly. He smiled at our hands intertwined.

"So." I started. "Today, we go to the hospital, is there anything else you wanted to do today?" I asked Etho, watching him decide with a cute concentration face.

"Well," He said. "There is one place. And it's super stupid, but very fun. I think you'll like it." Etho said, smiling at me and I nodded.

"Sounds great." I giggled, staring at him. He stared back at me and we stared for what felt like hours, just smiling at each other. Our time was soon after interupted by Cindy, which I was mad about, but not really because I was hungry after all.

"Your food's done." She smiled at us. Etho blushed dark red and I started to let go of his hand, assuming he was embarrassed, but he held tight. She set our food down in front of us, two identical plates. "Two Canadian Specials." Cindy said. The plate had two pancakes with maple syrup, 2 pieces of bacon, and some eggs on the side. I looked over at Etho and he shrugged at me.

"Very patriotic." I noted, giggling a little bit. Cindy laughed a bit too, finally noticing that our hands were locked together. She looked at Etho curiously and I saw him make a quick movement with his hand. She nodded and smiled at us as she walked away.

"Sorry about Cindy." Etho giggled softly, letting go of my hand and grabbing his fork to start eating.

"You know, my mom always used to tell me." I started, picking up my fork. "That a way a man cuts his pancakes can tell you a lot about him." I giggled, remembering what my mom always used to say. Etho looked at me accusingly and laughed a bit.

"Hm. So what does the way I cut pancakes say about me?" Etho asked, looking down at the pancakes, cut up into squares. I studied the slices and looked back up at him.

"Well," I said. "They tell me that you are very cute, and very kind." He said and Etho blushed, looking at me. I shrugged.

"Maybe about half of it is true." Etho said, taking a bite of the pancakes.

"I'd say all of it is." I said shyly, looking at him, making him blush.

"Thanks." He said softly, looking down at his food. I smiled at him.

"The pancakes never lie." I giggled, taking a bite of my eggs. The rest of breakfast carried along with a bit of conversation about random things. After we had finished eating and we were about to leave, Cindy motioned Etho over to her. He rolled his eyes a bit and looked at me.

"Sorry, give me like 5 minutes." Etho sighed, walking over to talk to Cindy. I stood, resting against the door frame until they were done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what will cindy say to etho?? find out next episode. xD don't really know what to put here sooooooo
> 
> ~Bai!


	8. Harley

~Etho's POV~

I walked over to Cindy, dreading the conversation ahead of me.

"Okay, you know what I'm gonna ask already. Are you guys together? I saw you holding hands!" She said excitedly.

"Shh!" I told her quickly. "No, we're not dating.." I said. 

"You like him though." Cindy said. I nodded shyly and she smiled at me. "And he likes you too." She said and I shook my head.

"I don't think he does. Why would he like me? Besides, he probably likes someone else." I said, tearing myself down. She blew a piece of hair from in front of her face and rolled her eyes.

"Etho, listen to me. He likes you. I know that look. He likes you a lot. Like a lot. You need to go for it." She told me.

"I-I don't know.." I said nervously. "I do like him a lot.." I told her. "Cindy.. I think I'm in love with him." I said softly.

"Etho, you have to go for this! You guys are destined for each other!" She insisted and I shrugged.

"If something happens, I'll peruse it, but I don't want to be the one to make the first move." I told her and she shook her head.

"Hey." She told me. "Love you." Cindy smiled, hugging me tightly, me hugging her back. 

"Love you too." I said, letting go of her. 

"Go get him!" Cindy giggled, making me blush. I walked back out to Dan, who's eyes lit up when he saw me. I smiled at him and walked towards him.

"Bye, Cindy." I smiled at her, and she winked at me, making me blush.

~Beef's POV~

"What was that about?" I giggled, looking at him. He shook his head and smiled.

"Nothing important." He said, taking his hand in mine, which I was glad for. I nodded and smiled at him.

"Etho?" I asked softly.

"Yeah?" He said, looking at me. I took a small breath and looked down.

"Have you ever been in love?" I asked softly and he looked a bit surprised at my question.

"Yeah.. I have." He said quietly. "What about you?"

"Yeah." I told him, smiling a bit. He looked at me and smiled as we walked up to his house, him unlocking the doors and letting us in. I walked towards the room Bubba was in and opened the door, him jumping up on my legs.

"Hey, buddy!" I giggled, crouching down to play with him as Etho stood close by, watching us. "Hey, uh, do you think we can go to the store today too? I need to buy more dog food for Bubba. And I also wanted to get that stuff to make you dinner." I giggled. He smiled and nodded, proping himself up on the wall as Bubba ran up to him and climbed up onto his legs. He smiled at the small dog and leaned down to pet him.

"What do you want to do first?" Etho asked me.

"We can go see your mom first, I'm assuming you want to do that first." I said, standing up and looking at him, seeing him nod softly. "I can drive." I suggested and he nodded.

"You want to go now?" I asked. He nodded again. 

"Okay, I have to take Bubba out real quick, though. Don't want him to mess up the room." I told him, and he nodded a bit. I quickly took Bubba outside to let him do his business and grabbed my keys from the night stand when I got back in. We got into my car and I started it up.

"Hey." I said softly, and offered my hand out to him. He took it and held it, obviously trying to hold back his tears. "It's gonna be okay." I whispered to him, rubbing my thumb over the top of his hand softly as I drove.

"I'm just scared..." He whispered softly, the first words I'd heard him speak in a while.

"I know you are." I said quietly, not knowing how to comfort him.

"They're not going to be very happy to see me there." He spoke quietly.

"Why is that?" I asked him.

"After I came out, about half of my family stopped talking to me.." Etho said softly, staring at our hands. He took a deep breath and I looked over, seeing tears in his eyes. "M-My uncle.." He said, very quietly. "When I was like 17.. He used to try and beat it out of me..." He whispered. I didn't know how to react. I was angry, sad, and frustrated, all at the same time. "I just hope he's not there.." Etho said softly, looking out the window.

"He better hope he's not there." I muttered under my breath, and I saw Etho look over at me and smile a bit.

"Just nervous.. About everything." Etho said.

"I understand." I answered. "But don't worry. If anything bad happens, I'm here." I told him protectively, seeing him blush out of the corner of my eye. I smiled softly and looked back at the road.

"We're almost here." Etho spoke in a voice I've never heard from him before. Scared, terrified. Even when he first told me about his mom, he did not sound like this. It scared me to a point. I nodded, taking a deep breath and pulled into a parking spot. I parked the car and looked over at Etho, who was holding my hand tightly. I started rubbing the top of his hand with my thumb softly, which seemed to calm him down to some extent. He looked over at me and blushed. I stared into his green eyes and he stared back into mine. I felt the urge again, to just lean in and kiss him. And I wanted to so badly. But I couldn't ruin what we already had.

"D-Do you want to go inside now?" I asked, breaking our stares. He nodded, his face turning red and looked away. I saw him take a deep breath and open the car door, me doing the same. We both got out and walked up to the door of the hospital. We walked in, side by side to the front desk. 

"How can I help you?" The man standing there asked us, looking bored to be at work.

"Um, I wanted to see my mom." Etho said, nervously.

"Last name?" He asked, looking at the computer screen in front of him.

"Clarke." Etho told the man. He looked in his computer and found her.

"Room 267. Third floor, 7th one on your right." The man told us. "I hope she's okay." He told him, and Etho nodded as we made our way over to the elevator. He clicked the button that read 3 on it and walked in as it opened.

"You okay?" I asked, looking over at Etho. He shrugged and shook his head softly, looking up at me with his bright green eyes.

"I really don't know how to react. I-I've never been really good with this kind of thing." Etho told me. I nodded.

"Well, if you need anything, just ask, okay?" I told him and he smiled a bit and nodded in response. We got off the elevator and walked around a bit until we found the room. "Do you want me to stay out here?" I asked him and he shook his head, slightly embarrassed.

"I don't know who's going to be in there... C-Can you go in there with me?" Etho asked softly, and I nodded and smiled. He grabbed the handle and opened the door, a few eyes flying towards us. A few people sat in the room, Etho's mom and dad, obviously. But there was also an older looking man who was bald, with a woman next to them and a girl, about 20 next to them. The bald man shot Etho a glare. I assumed he was the uncle. Etho flinched a bit as they made eye contact, but he quickly looked away.

"So." The bald man said, standing up. "Who might this be?" He asked, walking over to us. In all honesty, I was scared of the man. He stared me down, making me nervous. "A boyfriend?" He growled, looking into Etho's eyes and he shook his head softly.

"N-No, sir." He spoke very quietly. I've never seen him like this before, and it made me want to punch the bald man in front of us. "He's just my friend who's here visiting." Etho told his uncle, and he walked in front of me.

"What's your name, boy?" He spoke quickly and angrily.

"Dan, sir. Nice to meet you." I held my hand out politely and he shook it, looking at me.

"Sit down, Karl. Don't start anything you ain't prepared to finish." The lady spoke softly, looking at, who I assumed her husband. Etho's uncle sat back down and the 20 year old stood up, wrapping Etho in a hug.

"Hey, Harley." Etho whispered into her ear softly and she smiled.

"Hey, Etho." She said back. They let go of each other and Etho looked at me.

"Karl is the uncle, the other is my aunt Taylor, and that girl was my little sister, Harley." He informed me. I nodded as Etho walked over to his dad. I sat down in a chair near the door, and away from the rest of them as Etho spoke to his father and sat down next to his mom. Etho's sister walked over and sat down next to me.

"Harley." She spoke, and held out her hand to shake. I took it and shook it politely.

"Dan." I smiled.

"I've seen you on YouTube before, but don't worry, nobody else here has. Etho talks about you a lot." She said, and I felt myself blushing.

"Really?" I asked her, and she nodded. I smiled over at him while he talked to his dad. "How are you holding up?" I asked her. She sighed and shrugged.

"I'm okay, I guess. Nervous." She told me, and looked over at me. "Did you drive out here for him?" She asked. I nodded.

"Of course. I'd do anything for him." I admitted, embarrassingly. She smiled.

"That's really sweet. Are you guys...?" She trailed off, and I shook my head.

"No, we're not." I told her.

"Ah." Harley said. "Do you like him?" She asked. I blushed and didn't know what to say.

"U-Um.." I started.

"It's okay. I won't tell him. Pinky promise." She held out her pinky and I smiled softly at her childish ways and locked our fingers together.

"Yeah.. I do. A lot. But I don't think he likes me." I told her, not knowing why I was telling this girl so much about myself.

"That's really cute. And you never know. Maybe he likes you back. He's weird like that. He's only ever been in one other relationship before, and she made the first move. It was a while ago though. Like he was 15 I think." She smiled, and I imagined 15 year old Etho. "You know," Harley started, tearing me out of my thoughts. I looked over at her. "You're really important to him." She said softly. I smiled and blushed.

"He's important to me too..." I said, looking over at him lovingly as he laughed at a joke his mom had made.

"I think you guys would be really cute together." She said, smiling over at him.

"Thanks." I laughed, smiling.

"I love your videos, by the way. I've watched a few before with you guys both in them, and you're really funny." Harley giggled and I smiled.

"Thanks." I smiled at her. "Really means a lot." I said and she nodded.

"I think its really sweet that you're here for him right now. I know he's taking this really hard. He's always been the one closest to mom between the two of us. It's really sweet how you drove out all this way for him."

"Well, we were talking to our friend when his dad messaged him and he just asked me if I could drive out here at like 1 in the morning. And of course I said yes, because he's him and I love him and I want to be there for him." I said and her mouth widened into a smile. 

"You guys are perfect for each other." She told me and I smiled. "But you should make the first move." She told me and I shrugged.

"But what if he doesn't like me and it ruins our friendship? I don't want to lose him." I spoke quietly so Etho wouldn't hear.

"I promise you, even if he doesn't like you like that, which I think he might, it won't ruin your friendship. I can promise you that much." Harley told me and I took a deep breath.

"You think?" I asked and she nodded confidently.

"Positive." She said and I smiled and looked over at Etho one more time, who was looking over at me. He gave me a confused look as to what was happening. I shrugged and smiled at him, making him look away with a grin on his face. Etho stood up after a few seconds and walked over to us, sitting in the chair next to me.

"Hi." Etho said softly, smiling at me.

"Hey." I smiled back as Harley looked at us.

"She wasn't being too much of a pain, was she?" Etho giggled as Harley hit him lightly on the side of his head.

"Hey!" She laughed. "You love me." She said, frowning.

"Ah, whatever." He rolled his eyes playfully as he laughed.

"She didn't tell you any embarassing stories about my childhood though, did she?" Etho said, a bit nervous.

"Only all of them." Harley laughed, making Etho blush.

"Shutty." Etho said and I smiled.

"That's my thing!" I laughed, making Etho smiled and shrug.

"So what were you guys talking about?" Etho asked, looking at the two of us and my eyes darted to Harley, assuming she was a good liar based on the previous ones.

"Just stuff." She responded, making Etho shoot her an accusing glance.

"What kind of stuff?" Etho asked again and I smiled.

"Just stuff, you know?" I laughed and he smiled.

"Yeah okay." He smiled and looked at me. "Uh, I think I'm ready to go." Etho told me and I nodded.

"It was great meeting you, Harley." I said, holding out my hand for her to shake, but she rolled her eyes and wrapped me in a hug instead.

"Make your move." She whispered in my ear and I blushed a little, nodding. Etho wrapped her in a hug, whispering something I couldn't hear into her ear, which made her shrug and wink at him. 

"Bye, everyone." Etho said, trying to avoid eye contact with his uncle. "I'll call you tonight, okay, Mom?" He said, and she nodded, smiling at him as we left the room. He stood outside the room and took a deep breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS IM IN LOVE WITH HARLEY AHG OMG OKAY 
> 
> ~Bai!


	9. The Store Incident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> um okay, so some of this stuff in this chapter is really derogitory to homosexuals, but thats the point of it. im so sorry and it really did hurt a lot to write someone saying those kinds of things. if homophobic slurs offend you a lot, and you're really sensitive to that, i advise skipping the parts where theres giant marks like this 
> 
> ===============
> 
> ill put another one down and a small snipet to go over what happened if anyone really doesn't want to read that part. little summary of what happens. thanks :)

"What were you two talking about?" Etho asked me, looking into my eyes.

"I promise it wasn't anything bad. We were just chatting about this and that." I lied, hoping it sounded believable. He looked at me and smiled.

"I believe you." Etho smiled at me, making me feel bad about lying. We walked out of the hospital and got into the car. 

"Okay, so store for food for us and Bubba, then we can go to the park?" I asked and Etho nodded. I put the car into drive and started driving, resting my arm on the arm rest. After a few minutes I felt Etho slowly slip his hand into mine and I looked over at him. He looked back at me and smiled, squeezing my hand a bit and pointed back onto the road.

"Eyes on the road." He giggled. I smiled and looked back at the road. I pulled into a parking spot at the store and smiled over at Etho, who was still holding my hand.

"Ready to go?" I asked and he nodded, letting go of my hand to unbuckle his seat belt. I got out of the car and met him on the other side of it, and he shyly put his hand back into mine. I smiled over at him and he smiled softly at me, blushing and looking down.

"D-Do you mind it?" Etho asked quietly and I shook my head.

"Not at all." I blushed and squeezed his hand, making him smile and look down at his feet. We walked inside together and grabbed a cart, me pushing it with one hand, and Etho holding my other. We walked to the dog section and I grabbed a big bag of dog food, not knowing how long I was going to stay with Etho. 

"I need to get stuff to make you dinner tonight too." I smiled at Etho and he grinned, rolling his eyes.

"You don't have to make me dinner, you know." He said and I nodded.

"I don't have to. But I want to." I smiled and he blushed.

"Then I guess I need stuff to make you breakfast tomorrow too, don't I?" Etho laughed and I smiled. God, I loved him so much. We walked over to the food section where there were more people. A few people looked at us, glaring at our hands. Etho's happy disposition quickly fell as he sensed peoples harmful glares. 

"U-Um.. Everyone is staring.." Etho whispered to me. 

"Do you want me to take care of it?" I asked him and he shook his head lightly, shrugging.

"It's fine." He said and suddenly, a group of teenage boys walked from an aisle. Oh boy.

====================================

"Oh! Would you look at that, guys?" One boy said to his 3 other friends. They were probably around 18 or 19. "It's two faggots walking around the store!" He laughed, making his other friends cackle in unison. I gritted my teeth, trying to keep my cool. I rubbed my thumb across Etho's hand to try and calm him down as I could feel his nervousness. I took a deep breath.

"Beef.." Etho whispered, knowing my personality, I was ready to kick these kids' asses.

"I'm fine. Let's just ignore them." I said through my teeth as we turned into another aisle.

"Oh no, the fags are trying to get away!" Another boy laughed, walking in front of us. I sighed and looked over at Etho, who was staring at me.

"Stop it. Before I do something about it." I told the boys, who just laughed in response. 

"And what are you going to do about it, you old faggot?" A kid laughed at me. I let go of Etho's hand and walked up to the boy.

"Let me ask you one question." I told him. "How old are you?" I asked and he laughed.

"19. What does that-" I cut the boy off.

"So I won't get arrested for punching a minor in the face." I said as I swung a punch at the boy's face, knocking him over. I wouldn't say I was strong, but the punch seemed to have done the trick.

====================================  
in this little part here, should you choose to skip over it, a bunch of intolerant teenagers call etho and beef some very derogatory homophobic slurs and beef frickin decks one of them in the face because he's awesome xD   
====================================

"Learn some tolerance. Gay people are all around you. Now you three-" I turned to the other three boys, who were almost cowering in fear by then. "Better get out, before that happens to you too. Got it?" I asked, and they all four nodded, the boy on the ground in front of me scrambled to his feet, holding his jaw and running off with his friends. I heard a few applause that slowly grew louder after a few seconds around me. I laughed and took a bow in the middle of the aisle, while I walked back to Etho. He grinned at me and took my hand again.

"That." Etho started. "Was the most amazing and bad ass thing I've ever seen in my whole life." He finished, giggling.

"Aha!" I yelled, making a few people look over. "The innocent Etho swears, you potty mouth!" I giggled and he rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." He smiled. "But that was still really ho-" He stopped himself. "Heroic." He said, blushing a bit. I smiled and shrugged. 

"They were being annoying. Let's just get the food, okay? I don't want you to be banned from here because of me." I smiled and we pushed the cart, me grabbing Etho's hand again. We picked out some food that we would need for the week. We got up to the cash register and Etho started to pull out his wallet and I stopped him.

"I'll pay for it." I told him, pulling my wallet out.

"No, it's okay." He said and I shook my head.

"You're letting me stay at your house for the weekend. You could have just let me stay at a hotel or something." I told him. "Let me pay." I giggled and he rolled his eyes.

"I invited you!" Etho giggled. 

"I'm paying." I smiled, handing the cashier a 50 to pay for all the food.

"You two are really cute together." The girl who stood there told us and we both blushed.

"Oh, uh, we aren't dating or anything. W-We're just friends." Etho said, looking over at me.

"Oh, sorry." She smiled and continued to bag our things. We walked out of the store together and put the stuff away, getting back into the car. I sat down to drive and Etho pulled his hand into mine.

"D-Do you mind that I hold your hand all the time?" He asked nervously, and I shook my head.

"I don't mind at all." I told him and he nodded. 

"Beef." Etho said.

"Hm?" I responded, glancing over at him as I pulled into a parking spot at his apartment building.

"Um.." Etho said, looking down a bit.

"Is there something you need to talk about?" I asked, looking at him.

"Um.. It can wait until we get inside. It's fine." He said, smiling and letting go of my hand, and opening the car door. I sighed a bit and shrugged, grabbing as many bags as possible at once. We got inside and started putting things away, making small talk as we did so. I brought the dog food into the room that I was staying in and gave Bubba some, having him eat almost the whole thing.

"Who's a good boy?" I laughed as he climbed up on my legs, licking my hands. I giggled as I took him outside quickly and brought him back inside. Etho sat down on his couch and I sat down next to him.

"You okay?" I asked Etho. He sighed and put his head in his hands, shaking his head softly. 

"Beef. I need to tell you something." He said softly, looking over at me. I looked at him, confused. He sat up quickly and moved in, kissing me on the lips. My eyes widened in surprise, but I quickly closed my eyes and melted into the kiss, feeling my bones get weak and my lips tingled. This is happening. I was kissing Etho. And I loved every second of it. I slowly inched a little closer to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. He pulled away and looked into my eyes.

"I like you. A-And I h-hope you-" I cut him off by kissing him again softly, and I pulled away, giggling.

"Of course, I like you, you dork." I smiled and he blushed.

"Shut up and kiss me." Etho whispered, leaning in and connecting our lips together again. He climbed up onto my lap, wrapping his arms around my neck. We kissed for a few more seconds until a knock at the door interrupted us and Etho sighed.

"Are you kidding me.." He grumbled to himself, getting off my lap and walking to the door to look in the glass part to see who was outside. His eyes widened and he quickly smoothed out his clothes and fixed his hair. "Uncle." He whispered nervously to me and I fixed my appearance also. I took a deep breath as Etho opened the door to see his uncle.

"Hello, Etho." His uncle said and Etho said hello quietly. "I couldn't heard you, boy." His uncle said a bit louder and Etho cowered at the sound of his voice.

"H-Hello, sir." Etho said louder. I stood up and cleared my throat.

"Hello, sir." I held out my hand and he shook it. I stood near Etho.

"Ralph wanted to invite you out to dinner with us tonight. Aunt Taylor, me, Harley, Ralph, and a few of your cousins are coming too. You can bring your friend if you want." He said, almost glaring at me. Etho nodded.

"Um, yeah, we'll be there." Etho said, and his uncle nodded, walking out of the apartment. Etho shut the door after him and looked back at me.

"So." Etho said, walking up to me. "Where were we?" He giggled.

"Shut up, you adorable dork." I whispered, kissing him softly. After we pulled apart he looked at me.

"Beef?" Etho whispered. "Will you be my boyfriend?" He asked, smiling at me, and I nodded.

"Eh.. I guess so." I joked, and Etho acted offended. "I'm kidding. Of course I will." I smiled, kissing him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahgg!!! here this is. so much stuff happened. so many feels. here you go. also huge shoutout to RuddiestBubbles because they are super sweet and nice and actually like my terrible writing xD lmao you the real mvp! thanks for being such a fan of my writing :3
> 
> thank you all for reading!
> 
> ~Bai!


	10. Take a Picture, It'll Last Longer

Etho and I had spent the rest of the time we had before we had to leave cuddling and kissing softly, wanting and needing to be near each other. I pressed my forehead against his, smiling softly as we held our hands together.

"You're cute." I said softly, and Etho blushed.

"You're cuter." Etho retorted, making me smile.

"Not true. You're the cutest." I giggled and Etho rolled his eyes, kissing me softly. 

"I might be the cutest, if you say so, but you're the hottest." Etho winked, and bit his bottom lip enticingly. I felt a dark blush rise to my face, knowing my cheeks were bright red.

"S-Shut up." I stuttered out, and Etho laughed his adorable laugh. 

"We need to get ready to go." Etho said softly. "But I don't want to get up." He said. He was cuddling into my shoulder, playing with the hem of my shirt. 

"Well." I said. "When we get back here, we can cuddle more." I smiled and he looked up at me, grinning. 

"Promise?" He asked me, and I nodded, which made him lean up to kiss me. I smiled softly down at him, his green eyes staring right back at me.

"Do we need to dress up fancy?" I groaned out, and Etho shrugged. 

"Probably not. Just wear a pull over or something, if you brought one with you. If not, I'm sure I have one in my closet somewhere." Etho said and I looked at him wearily.

"Etho, I highly doubt anything that's in your closet will fit me." I giggled and Etho rolled his eyes.

"Shut up." He smirked, climbing onto my lap and wrapping his arms around my neck. "I'm sure I have something. You're not much bigger than me, if any at all." Etho smiled, and now it was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Oh, yeah." I giggled, poking his stomach jokingly. "You're so skinny!" I smiled.

"Are you kidding?" Etho asked, looking down at his stomach, almost sadly. "I'm way too big." He said softly, and I looked at him. I lifted his chin up to look at me. He looked up at me, sadness obvious in his eyes.

"Listen to me." I told him softly. "You are not too big. You are perfect, okay? You're perfect." I told him quietly, making him blush.

"Thanks." He said quietly, smiling a small smile. He climbed off of me and stood up, reaching his hands out to lift me up too. I took them and let him pull half my weight up, me pulling the rest of me up. I smiled at him and he walked into his room to change his clothes, me walking into mine to find a pull over. I found a decently-fancy shirt and nudged the door shut with my foot, feeling embarrassed to be shirtless where Etho could see me. I quickly changed my shirt and pants, opening the door again and walking out into the hallway, waiting for Etho. He walked out of his room in a plaid shirt, and skinny jeans. I marveled at him, wondering to myself how someone could look so unbelievably attractive in such casual clothes. He jokingly strut past me, smirking at me. I watched him pass, blushing red. God, was he hot. I followed him into the living room, where he was lacing up his Converse® as he smiled at me, holding in a slight giggle.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." He smirked at me, making me blush. 

"Shut up. I can't help but stare at your cute ass." I said, which made him blush. I leaned down next to him, getting my shoes on too. We both stood up and Etho leaned towards me, connecting our lips gently.

"I'm not gonna be able to kiss you until we get home." Etho pouted. I grabbed his hands softly and kissed him.

"Well, when we get home, we can cuddle and watch movies together." I said, making Etho smile.

"Good." He said, grabbing his car keys out of a small dish near the door and walking out of it, me following close behind. Etho locked the door and turned around to face me, us walking down the stairs to his car together. We both got in and he started up the car, holding my hand as he drove towards the restaurant his sister had texted him. We arrived there a few minutes later, both getting out of the car together and walking inside. Etho saw his sister, and smiled at her, hugging her as we walked over. I stood behind Etho the whole time, dreading any conversation that may come up between me and his uncle.

"Hello." He and his family exchanged hello's. "This is my friend, B-" He started, but cut himself off quickly. "Dan." He corrected himself, not wanting to explain why he was about to call me Beef in front of them. I smiled to myself as Etho sat down in a seat, one from the wall, letting me sit closest to the wall. I nodded a thanks to him, not making me sit by anyone I didn't want to. The family talked about this and that, but Etho and I kept to ourselves, talking about random things, until one of the cousins decided to dig deeper into our "friendship".

"So," A girl, about 18 started, smiling genuinely at us. "How did you and Etho meet?" She asked, question asked towards me. Etho looked over at me, slightly worried. 

"Um," I started, quickly coming up with a story. "We met through mutual friends about three years ago." I smiled at her, thinking it was believable enough.

"Kid doesn't annoy you too much, huh, Dan?" An older cousin, maybe 30 years old asked, rustling Etho's hair, jokingly.

"Hey!" Etho laughed, trying to fix his hair. I chuckled a bit and smiled at the girl, shaking my head.

"Not at all. Surprised he doesn't get too annoyed with me." I said, grinning over at him, making him roll his eyes.

"You single?" Yet another cousin, around my age I assumed asked me. Etho looked over at me and smiled a bit. I blushed and cleared my throat a bit.

"Nah, I'm taken." I said, smiling at her. 

"Too bad about that." The lady shrugged making everyone laugh lightly.

"Yeah.." I said, glancing over at Etho, who was pulling at his shirt collar. The waitress walked over and took all of our orders. Light conversation spread among the table until the food came. I looked at the burger I had ordered and took the pickles off, setting them down on Etho's plate, making him smile up at me. I remembered him saying a long time ago, he loved pickles. We smiled at each other, for probably much longer than "friends" should.

"Hey, Etho?" His uncle had cleared his throat to get us to stop looking at each other. I blushed lightly as Etho looked up at him.

"Yes?" Etho said, falling into an almost trace-like state of obedience.

"What's that thing there, around your wrist? A bracelet?" His uncle scoffed as the black cord of the friendship bracelet he had given me poked from the edge of his shirt. He looked down and blushed a little.

"Just something stupid I picked up at the mall." He lied, smiling. "It's nothing." Etho assured, but his uncle wasn't having any of it.

"You shouldn't wear stuff like that in public. Make people thing you're a fag or something." His uncle muttered, and Etho looked down, pulling his sleeve over the bracelet sheepishly.

"Sorry, sir." Etho said ashamedly. 

"Just don't wear it again." His uncle ordered, making Etho nod. The whole table had stopped talking to listen in on the conversation. 

"Can I see what it says?" A girl, maybe 9 years old asked Etho, with a huge grin on her face. Etho looked up at me, smiling a bit before he pulled up his sleeve to show her the bracelet. "I like it!" She grinned, making Etho smile. 

"Why, thank you." Etho smiled at her and she nodded, smiling up at her older cousin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahggg guys! i lied, i said there would be an update out on thursday or friday, but i got it finished wayyy earlier than i expected to. there still may be an update out on thursday or friday, but there are no promises on that because PARCC testing is slowly ending me. sorry for the little suprise update. xD hope you enjoyed it! thanks for reading!
> 
> ~Bai!


	11. Late Night Cuddles

The rest of dinner went on with nothing important happening, just some light conversation and an exchange of goodbyes as everyone got in their cars. Etho and I got into his car together, holding hands almost as soon as the doors were closed. He looked over at me and smiled.

"God, I was so close to kissing you so many times." He giggled, starting up the car. I smiled softly, and rubbed my thumb over his hand, a habit of mine now. 

"What movie do you want to watch when we get back to your place?" I asked him and he bit his lip a little in decision. I smiled at him as he decided, never taking his eyes off the road. He shrugged, making us both laugh a little. It didn't take us long to get to his house and change into some comfier clothes before both meeting back out into the living room to choose a movie. I sat down on the couch as Etho bent down to look for a movie on the shelf. I bit my lip a little, not being able to help myself but stare at his ass. I blushed a little as he turned back around, catching me red handed. He smirked and walked over to me, sitting in my lap and wrapping his arms around my neck. He stared at me innocently.

"What'cha lookin' at there, Beef?" He asked, smirking at me. I blushed and smiled a bit.

"Nothing that great." I lied and he giggled. 

"Not that great? That's the second time I've caught you staring at me today." Etho giggled, making me smile and shrug.

"I can't help but stare at you. You're hot." I giggled and Etho blushed, burying his head in my neck, nuzzling into me. I smiled softly as I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him closer to me. We lay like that for a few minutes before Etho moved back, connecting our lips softly. I kissed back, not having kissed him in a little while. It was magical the way our lips moved in sync together as I tangled my hands in his hair. We pulled away, breathless, almost gasping for air. I smiled at him as I pushed him down onto the couch, kissing him lightly before I nuzzled my way behind him and in front of the couch so we were spooning together. Etho smiled and cuddled farther into me as he grabbed the TV remote and turned on a random show.

"You cold?" Etho asked and I shrugged.

"Are you?" I asked and Etho nodded shyly. I grabbed a soft black blanket from behind us and draped it over the two of us. This was perfect. 

"Beef!" Etho said excitedly.

"Yes?" I giggled and Etho pointed at the TV excitedly.

"Seinfeld!" He laughed, and clicked on the show. We sat watching the old episode together until I heard Etho softly snoring. I smiled and grabbed the remote out of his limp hand, turning the show off and clicking the light off. I scooted myself down into a more comfortable position and cuddled into Etho. Yet, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall asleep. I stared down at Etho, who was in a deep sleep. I lie a soft kiss to his hair and I whispered.

"I love you." Quietly to him, as not to wake him up. I smiled as he cuddled into my chest, yawning a bit as I closed my eyes, falling asleep to the soft sounds of Etho's rhythmic breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aHAHA WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT IM STILL UP WRITING WHAT DO YOU KNOW I SHOULD BE SLEEPING RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I HAVE STATE TESTING TOMORROW BUT WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN STAYING UP WAY LATER THAN I SHOULD TO WRITE FANFIC AMMIRITE OR AMMIRITE?
> 
> small update on my life and stuff rn if you care at all..
> 
> im doing this really stressful state mandated testing right now (america, ammiright?) so it's like really taking a toll on my off time activities, such as writing, so i'm actually surprised i got this much done tonight. i really need to be sleeping. i can 99% tell you that i probably will not update tomorrow night because im hanging out with some friends after school and am going to be really exausted after that bc my friends are a lot. i know nobody cares but whatever xD just a small update on my life rn if you care at all.
> 
> also this is probably, no, definitely my last update for tonight. sorry, i know its really short, but its a filler chapter, and the chapter before this one was rlly hella long soooo... yep. sorry for the super late night update. it was hella cute tho? i think xD thanks for reading. night guys xD
> 
>  
> 
> ~Bai!


	12. You're Gonna Be A Great Dad

I woke up the next morning to Etho's soft snoring still. I smiled down at my adorable boyfriend and let out a small breath. God, I was so lucky to have him. He shuffled around a little bit, most likely to make himself more comfortable, scooting himself as far towards me as he could. I realized that in the middle of the night, he had grabbed my hand and held it close to him in his limply. I grinned at him as he moved and opened his eyes, while yawning a bit. He looked up at me and smiled, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"Morning, cutie." I giggled as he smiled and let his head fall down as he cuddled into me.

"Uhg..." He groaned. "I don't want to get up. I'm too comfy." He said in a raspy, and might I add, very attractive morning voice. I laughed a bit and kissed his cheek softly. "What time is it?" He asked, assuming he had closed his eyes, as there was a clock on the TV right by him. 

"9:26." I said, and laughed as Etho pulled the blanket up over his head.

"You're comfy. I don't want to move." Etho grumbled from under the blanket, making me giggle. 

"Well," I said. "I'm assuming that, if you ever choose to actually wake up, we're going to go to the diner for breakfast?" I chuckled, seeing the blanked move slightly, showing me that Etho had nodded from underneath it.

"Did you sleep okay? I didn't like crush you, did I? I move around in my sleep a lot." Etho said, poking his head out from under the blanket and turning to face me.

"No, you didn't. But you do talk in your sleep." I lied as Etho's face went bright red and his eyes widened.

"I-I do?" He stuttered out nervously. I smiled and nodded.

"You said something like, 'Oh my god, Beef, you are my one and only, and I love you with all my heart, you are my hero." I giggled, making him laugh.

"Yeah, right." Etho rolled his eyes adorably. "You scared me for a second there." He smiled, and I looked at ihm accusingly.

"Scared you? What were you dreaming about that made you so nervous?" I said, making Etho blush dark red.

"Shut up." He muttered, shoving his head back under the blanket to hide himself. I laughed loudly, smiling widely. I leaned down and whispered to him.

"You could have just asked for it." I whispered quietly to Etho.

"Shut up!" He laughed, pulling the blanket from over his head and cuddling into me, tangling our legs together.

"You're adorable." I said softly, making him blush harder than he already was. 

"You're more adorable." He said, and I shook my head.

"I may be more adorable, if you say so, but you're hottest." I said, quoting him from yesterday and winking at him. 

"Why are you so flirty this morning?" Etho giggled, smiling up at me.

"I don't know, really." I laughed, making him smile. 

"I like flirty Beef." Etho said, taking his hand in mine and resting our intertwined hands on my hip as we stared at each other lovingly. This was what being in love was like, and that was the moment that I knew it. With Etho's hand in mine, cuddled up together on the couch and just looking at each other, God, I knew that that was what I wanted for the rest of my life.

"Etho?" I asked, staring in to his beautiful green eyes.

"Yes?" Etho smiled back at me.

"I love you." I whispered softly, hoping it wasn't too soon to tell him that. Etho grinned happily and connected our lips quickly. After we pulled away a few seconds later, he smiled up at me.

"I love you, too." He said, biting his lip softly, staring at me.

"Good." I giggled, pulling him closer to me. 

"Are you hungry?" Etho asked me. 

"Very." I smiled and he nodded.

"Cindy is going to ask if we're together, you know." Etho said, smiling.

"Your choice to tell her or not." I nodded and Etho stared at me.

"God, I love you so much." He whispered, staring into my eyes.

"I love you more." I whispered, kissing his forehead softly.

"You ready to go?" Etho asked, smiling up at me.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I answered as we got up and got dressed, meeting each other out in the living room. Etho was wearing a black t-shirt that clung to him, showing off his light, but still prominent abs, and a pair of skinny jeans.

"Do I look weird?" He asked, holding out his arms and looking at me, nervously. I looked at him and shook my head, lightly pressing him into the wall behind him and smiling down at him as I kissed him softly.

"You look very hot." I told him and he blushed, smiling at me.

"Really? You don't think this shirt looks weird on me?" He asked, looking down at himself.

"No, I think it looks good. Shows off how fit you are, and that, is very attractive." I smiled at him and he grinned at me.

"God, you are the best boyfriend ever.." Etho whispered, shaking his head as he smiled at me happily.

"No, you are." I smiled back.

"You are." He retorted.

"Nope! I'm not letting us be that couple." I said, making Etho laugh and push me off of him. We walked out the door and made our way to the diner, holding hands and talking about random things. We walked inside as Cindy walked up to us, too.

"Hello, guys." She smiled brightly at us, looking down at our hands. She gave Etho a look and he nodded a bit. She grinned widely ad brought him into a hug. "Congrats, you love birds." Cindy grinned at us, laughing a bit. "Same thing as yesterday?" She asked, the question mostly being asked towards me, as Etho always got the same thing. I nodded as we walked over to a table and Cindy left to get our food. The food arrived and the rest of breakfast went without anything interesting happening, and we made our way home. 

Once we were inside, we lay down on the couch, Bubba between us, Etho petting him softly as we talked.

"I think you're gonna be an amazing dad." Etho said, not looking at me.

"Really?" I smiled a bit at him and he nodded softy.

"You have that like... I don't know, I just think you're gonna be a great dad." Etho said, smiling up at me. I blushed a bit and smiled at him.

"I think you're going to be an even better dad." I told him and he shrugged, looking back down to pet Bubba.

"I don't know..." He sighed a bit. "Kids never really seem to like me much, if at all." 

"Well," I smiled, resting my head on top of his. "I like you. And I'm sure your kid will, too. And you're going to be the best dad ever, I can just tell." Etho looked up at me, questioningly. "Like, seriously. You're gonna be the perfect dad and your kid is going to be a really cool kid because of you." I giggled a bit as Etho rolled his eyes. I smiled down as Bubba stared up at Etho, and Etho stared back at him. I couldn't help but just think to myself that Etho and I could be amazing dad's together. I closed my eyes as I lay my head on top of Etho's again, feeling him cuddle a bit farther into me and I let out a small breath. Perfect. I this was just... perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jesus christ guys. i am not even going to tell you the number of how many times i wrote and rewrote this chapter, not being able to get to somewhere i was happy with. (side note, it was more than 5). i just could not get this chapter anywhere i was happy with it, because i wanted a huge plot twist and i couldnt think of one until my good friend mindy helped me come up with something reallly good today. that chapter should be up sometime tonight, but i just finished this crappy little filler chapter up to hold you guys off. im sorry i made two filler chapters ina a row. i feel really bad about that, but you guys are going to love these next few chapters, i just know it. (i hope :|) anyways, ill update later tonight, love you guys!
> 
> ~Bai!


	13. Top or Bottom

A few days passed with me staying with Etho, them spent doing random things. Going to see his mom a few times, him taking me to that park he wanted to, when I decided to ask him about something one day. We lay on his bed, him cuddled into my chest and our legs intertwined as we talked about random things. I took a little breath and decided to say it.

"Etho?" I asked, and he looked up at me as if to tell me to continue. "Well.. I was thinking, that maybe since we really haven't done much since I've been here, that maybe we could, uh.." I stuttered off a bit. "Maybe, uh, like go on a road trip or something? It's totally fine if you don't-" Etho cut me off by climbing on top of me and sitting on my lap, a huge grin on his face.

"Beef!" Etho giggled loudly.

"Um... yes?" I asked, smiling nervously. This was a bit unlike Etho, even when he's around me, but I went with it anyways.

"That's an amazing idea!" He smiled widely and I grinned at him.

"I'm glad you like the idea, babe!" I giggled as Etho leaned down to kiss me, I smiled at him. "You're very enthusiastic about it." I giggled, as I rolled him over so I was on top. "But you are a bottom." I whispered in his ear as he gasped, fake offended, pushing me off of him, as I fell onto the bed in laughter. 

"I am so not a bottom!" Etho said, pouting.

"Oh, but you so are." I giggled and Etho pushed me.

"No way you're a top." He said, determined to win this fight.

"Are you kidding?" I asked, laughing. "Babe, you're a bottom. Ask anyone. Literally anyone." I said. Etho thought for a second.

"Pause knows we're together, right?" Etho asked and I nodded. I had told him a few days earlier that we had gotten together and asked him not to tell anyone. "Gimmie my phone." Etho demanded, and I hesitantly handed him it.

"You are not going to ask Pause if you're a bottom." I said, and Etho nodded. He held his phone out as it rang, Pause on speaker phone on Skype.

"Yo." Pause answered a few seconds later.

"Hey, Pause. Beef and I have an argument we need settled." Etho said, looking at me.

"An argument? Are you guys okay?" Pause asked, slightly concerned. I let out a small laugh.

"Not that kind of argument. A joke argument, that Etho thinks he can win." I giggled.

"Ah, I see." Pause said, laughing a bit. "Well, what is it?" Etho blushed a little bit, I assumed it was because he knew he was about to lose this argument.

"Um.." Etho trailed off a bit.

"Etho thinks he's a top." I finished as Pause let out a small snort, making me laugh and Etho blush dark red.

"Sorry, Etherz." Pause giggled, making Etho fold his arms. I leaned over and kissed him softly. "I can hear you guys kissing." Pause noted, fake-gagging a bit. 

"Ah, shut up. But thank you for proving what I already knew." I laughed, and Pause cleared his throat.

"Um, well, I hope I helped you guys?" He laughed and Etho scoffed.

"Yeah, whatever." Etho grumbled, and I smiled.

"We'll talk to you later, Pause." I said and we said our goodbyes. I lay Etho down on the bed and hovered over him.

"Sorry, babe." I whispered, kissing him softly. He smiled a bit into the kiss and I pulled away.

"So," Etho started as I climbed off of him, laughing a bit. "Where do you want to go?" Etho asked.

"Anywhere." I grinned, making Etho smile back at me. "We can go anywhere." I said, thinking of the possibilities.

"Let's go to Stratford." Etho suggested, and I smiled.

"That sounds amazing. I've heard it's really romantic there." I smirked, kissing his cheek softly.

"Shut up, you adorable dork." He giggled, wrapping his arms around my neck and kissing me.

"God, I love you." I whispered, making him smile softly. 

"I love you more." He told me. I pushed him down on the bed and kissed him eagerly, because no matter what I did, I could not get enough of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahgg hey guys. um a few things to talk about here. so sorry these past three chapters being filler chapters, but something actually happened this time sorta. a road trip :) if you want to know where and what stratford is, you can look it up on google maps (its a bootyful place)
> 
> kind of an update on my life thing..
> 
> im so so sorry that i have not been updating the way that i say i will. i've been dealing with a lot of stuff in real life right now, depression, stress, anxiety, and just like a bunch of stuff, and it's really effecting the way i write, and im so sorry that you guys are getting the short end of that stick. i feel terrible for not updating yesterday when i said i would but i just couldnt bring myself to write and it just was terrible.. lot going on right now. sorry for the annoying filler chapters and stuff and i know theyre really bad and just.. ahg >.


	14. The Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been too long.

The next morning, we began packing our bags, getting ready to go on our trip to Stratford.

"You almost ready to go, Etho?" I called from across the house.

"Almost!" Etho giggled from the other room, soon after appearing with two suitcases.

"Finally. You're so stereotypical with the amount of clothes you have." Beef laughed a bit, making Etho stare at him in fake-offense.

"Well, that was just rude." Etho giggled. Beef rolled his eyes, pressing a small kiss to Etho's lips.

"I love you." Beef smiled, wrapping his arms around Etho's waist, who put his hands in Beef's back pockets.

"I love you, more, you adorable nerd." Etho said softly, resting his head on Beef's chest as they stood together, just gently swaying from side to side. After a while, Bubba stood up from his spot next to the door and started barking. "We should get going. If we leave now and go with a few stops we should get there by tomorrow morning." Etho said.

"You're so punctual." Beef giggled as they broke apart, bringing all of the bags down the stairs.

"I try." Etho smiled as they loaded the bags into the car. They both got in, Beef in the drivers seat an Etho in the passenger's seat with Bubba in his lap. The two set off towards Stratford, making jokes and small conversation along the way.

"Etho?" Beef said after a while, smiling over at his boyfriend, who was playing with Bubba.

"Yeah?" Etho responded.

"I love you." Beef smiled.

"I love you too, you dork." Etho giggled.

"Etho?" Beef asked again a few minutes later.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever thought about the future... Like.. Our future?" Beef asked softly, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Well, yeah, of course I have..." Etho said, petting Bubba.

"Do you want kids?" Beef asked, and Etho nodded.

"Yeah, I do..." Etho said, a bit cautiously.

"How many kids do you want?" Beef asked.

"Two." Etho said, and Beef nodded.

"Me too.." Beef smiled.

"Do you think we're gonna get married?" Etho asked quietly. Beef felt himself grin.

"I think maybe." Beef said softly. Etho looked over at Beef with a smile.

"Yeah?" Etho asked, and Beef nodded.

"I think that maybe some day we will. I mean, I know I want to be with you forever..." Beef said, a small blush rising to his face.

"I know I want to be with you forever, too.." Etho said softly. "Beef?" Etho asked. Beef looked over at him, urging to continue as they arrived at the hotel. "W-W.." Etho tried. "What if we got married?" Etho blurted out. Beef looked at him with surprise.

"What?" Beef asked.

"Why not? We know we want to be together forever. Why not just get married now?" Etho asked. Beef's face broke out into a smile.

"Are you serious right now, Etho?" Beef asked, his heart racing. Etho nodded, and Beef pulled him into a tight hug.

"Oh, my god, we're getting married." Etho said, the statement setting in for the both of them.

"I love you, Etho." Beef whispered.

"I love you, more." Etho whispered back, kissing Beef passionately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys :) okay, i know i've put off writing for this story for... *looks at when i last updated* jesus christ, since april 30th. damn. sorry for that xD
> 
> as i started writing and reading more fanfiction, i realized how terribly this story was written and how un-detailed it was and i just really didn't want to write for it anymore. 
> 
> on another note, i think a huge reason why i didn't want to write for this is because it was like where i got my footing in the mindcrack community on ao3? like this is my first actual story i wrote, and i wrote it when i was in some very dark times so it was just really emotional for me to write for. on the other hand, i wrote this last night and immediately burst into tears because this story is ending. don't ask me why i cried so much, i just did. 
> 
> for the last time in this story...
> 
> i love you babes! hope you enjoyed <3
> 
> ~Bai!


	15. The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End.

It was a few days later, Etho and Beef had settled into their hotel that they were staying at. They had explored the city together, having tons of fun, Beef even buying Etho a ring while they were there. But the two decided it was time they tell the other Mindcrack guys about what was happening. Etho messaged the group chat with everyone in it.

"Hey guys, do you think we could all get into a video call? I have something important to tell you guys." Etho sent. Immediately, the call blew up with questions about Etho finally showing his face. Once everyone was available, they set up the call, everyone congratulating Etho on finally showing his face, and laughing about the speculations of what they thought he looked like. Etho made sure he was the only one in view of the camera. It took a bit for Etho to calm the group down, but eventually he did.

"Okay guys, I called you here to tell you guys something important.." Etho smiled.

"Wait, Beef's not here." Guude said. "You should wait for him." Etho grinned to his left where Beef sat. Beef sat down next to Etho and everyone smiled, greeting him.

"Okay, well now that everyone is officially here, we have some important news for you guys." Etho grinned. "We're together..." Etho said, and everyone cheered, people saying they knew that they were.

"And we're getting married!" Beef said loudly over the chatter. The call went quiet for a few seconds before everyone started freaking out.

"Dibs on being the wedding planner! I called it, suckas!" Bdubs yelled out, a huge grin on his face. Everyone laughed and the two hesitantly agreed to let Bdubs set it up, smiling at the happy reaction he had to their answer.

"Oh, we forgot to mention. You all are invited." Beef grinned and everyone let out a chorus of "YES!" making everyone laugh.

"I'm officiating it, right?" Pause laughed, and Etho nodded.

"Of course." Etho giggled.

"This is going to be amazing!" Kurt said, imagining what the beautiful wedding would look like. The call lasted for a few more hours, the whole group lazily chatting about the wedding and catching up. Most of the time was spent with people talking about how they had always known the two would get together eventually. It was around 1 am when the call finally ended. Etho and Beef flopped down on the bed next to each other, both grinning as they faced each other.

"Who's gonna be your best man?" Etho asked Beef, lazily drawing small patterns on his hand.

"Pause, I think. Who's gonna be yours?" Beef responded. Etho thought for a second.

"Either Zisteau or Bdubs." Etho said softly, yawning a bit.

"You're adorable when you yawn." Beef giggled.

"You're adorable always." Etho smiled.

"You're so sappy." Beef rolled his eyes, pressing a small kiss to Etho's lips.

"I love you." Etho said softly, feeling himself get more tired.

"I love you more." Beef said softly, admiring how undeniably beautiful Etho looked while he slept, soon finding himself falling asleep too.

~6 months later~

It was the day of the wedding, and Bdubs had to admit how nervous he was.

"I'm freaking out, Guude! What if something goes wrong? W-What if everything gets messed up?" Bdubs tried to stop his mind from imagining everything that could go wrong on his best friends' wedding day.

"Relax, guy! Everything is going to go fine!" Guude gripped Bdubs shoulders.

"I'm just nervous. Those two deserve the best day possible..." Bdubs said. Guude nodded.

"They do. And you've made it the best day possible for them." Guude smiled.

"Thank you.." Bdubs smiled, bringing Guude into a hug.

"You're welcome. Now go check on Etho, Pause is already in the other room with Beef." Guude smiled. Something about the day just made everyone's emotions seem to be 10x more intense. Beef and Etho couldn't be happier, except for the fact that they weren't allowed to see each other until the ceremony. Bdubs made his way to Etho's dressing room. He knocked a few times before Zisteau opened the door.

"Ah, hi." Zisteau smiled cheerily, looking especially fancy in his suit.

"Hey." Bdubs smiled, walking in and seeing Etho, standing in a pitch black suit that looked amazing on him.

"Do I look okay?" Etho asked nervously.

"You look fantastic." Bdubs smiled at his best friend, bringing him into a hug.

"Thank you so much for being the wedding planner. I really don't think I could trust anyone else with something like this." Etho smiled. Bdubs shrugged, knowing he deserved the praise, but refused to take it.

"Thank you for letting me be the wedding planner! It's an honor to coordinate the biggest day of my best friends' lives." Bdubs grinned.

"5 minutes!" Zisteau called, walking back into the room. Etho let out a breath.

"You good?" Bdubs asked. Etho nodded.

"Nervous." Etho admitted.

"Don't be. Everything is going to be perfect." Bdubs smiled. Etho nodded as Zisteau and Bdubs ushered Etho out of the room. Etho saw his dad smiling at him as he walked out of the room.

"Hey, dad." Etho grinned, linking his arms with his father.

"You look very handsome, Etho. Your mother would be so proud." His dad said with a small smile. Etho's mother had passed away a few months back, right when they got home from their vacation. Etho smiled sadly, looking at the floor.

"Let's do this." Etho smiled forward as the doors opened. Etho felt himself grin as he caught sight of Beef standing at the altar, Pause behind him, and all of their friends lined up behind where Etho would stand and where Beef was standing. Etho heard the music start playing and he could see nothing else but his beautiful soon-to-be husband, standing with a huge grin in a black suit identical to his own. As he walked with his father, he couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"I'm so proud of you." Etho's father spoke in a soft voice as they reached the altar, letting go of Etho's arm and sitting down in a seat. Beef grabbed Etho's hands as they stared into each others eyes, deep green meeting bright blue as they smiled at each other. Pause began to speak the words in the book before him, often grinning up at his two best friends as he did so.

"Dan, your vows?" Pause smiled at Beef.

"Today, Etho, I promise you this. I will laugh with you in times of joy, and comfort you in times of sorrow. I will share in your dreams and support you as you strive to achieve your goals. I will listen to you with compassion and understanding, and speak to you with encouragement. Together, let us build a home filled with learning, laughter and light, shared freely with all who may live there. Let us be partners, friends and lovers, today and all of the days that follow." Beef said, giggling softly as he gently wiped away a tear that had fallen down Etho's cheek.

"Etho, your vows?" Pause said, grinning at Etho.

"Dan, you are my best friend. I promise to laugh with you, cry with you, and grow with you. I will love you when we are together and when we are apart. I promise to support your dreams and to respect our differences, and to love you and be by your side through all the days and nights of our lives." Etho said softly, smiling at his fiance.

"And with that, I now pronounce you husband and husband. You may kiss the groom." Pause giggled, cheering as Beef leaned in, connecting his lips with Etho's. They broke apart with a smile, not being able to take their eyes off of each other.

"We're married." Etho said with a grin.

"Nice observation, husband." Beef smiled, giggling as Etho nudged him.

\---

And with that, my friends, officially concludes the love story of Etho and Beef. As cliché as it is, they truly did live happily ever after. A year and a half after their wedding day, they adopted twins, Scarlet and Damien and moved into a house together. As the years went by, the love shared between Etho and Beef only grew stronger. It was August 19th 2052 when Etho and Beef passed away together of old age. They truly did live the happily ever after that everyone wishes they had. I hope one day you find your happily ever after, no matter who they are.

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy crap guys. this is the official end to this story. (like seriously tho dont worry there will be no more surprises) and i hope you guys liked this!!! did yall really think i was gonna end off a story with crappy love vows hELL NO MAN IMMA GO OUT WITH A BANG AND MAKE THE STORY HAVE EMOTIONAL MEANING ABOUT HOW CRIPPLINGLY ALONE I AM IN LIFE :DDD the last chapter was embarrassingly short sooo
> 
> also HUGE SIDE NOTE. I DID NOT WRITE THE VOWS. I TOOK THEM OFF OF A WEBSITE. [http://apracticalwedding.com/2013/06/wedding-vow-examples/] they said that plagiarism was encouraged but im giving them credit bc i sat for like two hours trying to think of wedding vows but i couldn't think of any. so yeah, i did NOT write the wedding vows. but i did write everything else lmao
> 
> anywhoosies. i hope you guys enjoyed reading this fic as much as i enjoyed writing it. this was the very first fic i ever wrote, although it was like the 4th thing i posted. i started writing this fic onnnnn looks at calendar thingy March 10th 2016, and it has officially ended on July 1st 2016. wow man. also i started writing this the day after my birthday cool lmao. this fanfic has honestly been one of the best things i've ever done. this whole fic has been a real emotional journey for me too, i remember through writing parts of this story where i was, how i was feeling while writing, and the things that were happening when i wrote it. its been an amazing journey writing this fic and im so glad that you guys enjoyed it. thank you guys so much for reading this fic from beginning to end and i hope you guys stick with me and my writing until i get old and die. xD anyways! hope you guys enjoyed! love you babes!
> 
> (and for the offical last time...)
> 
> ~Bai!


End file.
